The Middle East region recorded a couple of high-value deals this week, with the funding activity spearheaded by Mubadala-backed buy-now-pay-later platform Tabby.
Tabby emerged as the Gulf region’s first fintech unicorn, with its valuation exceeding $1.5 billion after a Series D round even as it plans for an initial public offering.
Other significant deals included Saudi Arabian edtech player Noon raising Series B funding and the UAE-based cybersecurity startup Spidersilk securing Series A capital. Fintech platform NOW Money and Egyptian healthcare platform Almouneer also raised capital.
Meanwhile, the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority launched a venture capital fund with a corpus of AED 500 million ($136 million) for fintech startups. The fund—Oraseya Capital—will invest from the pre-seed stage to Series B to address funding gaps for regional startups.
Tabby
Fintech firm Tabby raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Wellington Management, with participation from growth equity investor Bluepool Capital and existing investors STV, Mubadala Investment Capital, PayPal Ventures, and Arbor Ventures.
Founded in the UAE in 2019 by Hosam Arab, Tabby announced its relocation to Saudi Arabia last month as it plans to list on the Tadawul stock market. The BNPL platform for online and offline shoppers has over $6 billion in annualized transaction volume. It has four million customers and 15,000 retailers as clients across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
The company had raised $58 million in Series C funding in January at a valuation of $660 million. The Series D round raised its valuation to over $1.5 billion, making it the only fintech unicorn in the Gulf region.
Noon
Saudi Arabia-based educational technology startup Noon secured $41 million in Series B funding. The round was co-led by Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures and RAED Ventures.
The round also saw participation from STV, SVC, Riyadh Valley Company (a subsidiary of King Saud University), Endeavor, Sanabil 500, Qyem Development Holding, and Nahlat Alarab Holding.
Noon will use the funding to enhance its product offerings and fuel geographical expansion over the next two to three years.
Founded in 2013 by Mohammed Aldhalaan and Abdulaziz Alsaeed, Noon is a peer-to-peer social learning app for students across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Pakistan.
The additional funding will allow Noon to improve its AI-powered solutions, allowing it to offer personalized learning experiences. It had raised $8.6 million in a Series A round in 2019 and $13 million in a pre-Series B round in 2020 led by venture capital firm STV.
Spidersilk
Cybersecurity AI startup SpiderSilk raised $9 million in Series A funding, led by Wa’ed Ventures, to expand its cyber defence tech offerings in Saudi Arabia. Its existing investors, STV and Global Ventures, also participated in the round.
The Dubai-based entity plans to relocate its headquarters to Saudi Arabia in 2024.
Founded in 2019 by Rami El Malak and Mossab Hussein, SpiderSilk is a cybersecurity technology firm specializing in attack surface management and threat detection. It had earlier secured $2.25 million in pre-Series A funding in 2021.
NOW Money
The UAE-based fintech player NOW Money raised an undisclosed amount in a round led by Dubai-based entrepreneurs Mark Nutter and Nicolas Andine to expand its product offering.
Founded in 2015 by Ian Dillon and Katharine Budd, NOW Money is the UAE's first digital payroll and mobile bank service developed specifically for low-income workers. It aims to use the funding towards launching a new banking subscription service aimed towards migrant workers.
It had earlier raised $7 million in 2022 in a round led by Anthemis Exponential Ventures, and saw participation from Wamda, DIFC Fintech Fund and Hambro Perks’ Oryx Fund.
Almouneer
Egypt-based healthcare digital transformation platform Almouneer raised $3.6 million in a seed funding round led by Dubai-based Global Ventures to enhance its product offering. Proparco and Digital Africa joined the round.
Founded in 2017 by Noha Khater and Rania Kadry, Almouneer serves patients with chronic diseases. It aims to use the proceeds to develop its patient-centric platform to help treat pre-diabetes, diabetes and obesity.